Federal Social Justice Commissioner Tom Calma, has released a new report which calls for the 'skilling up' of existing services that work with Indigenous young people with cognitive or mental health issues, in an effort to halt their slide into the juvenile justice system. The report is from the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission … Continue reading HREOC Programs Diverting Young Indigenous From Incarceration

A tribunal has found the Immigration Department was wrong in refusing to release 282 documents under FOI legislation,  concerning Dr Mohamed Haneef.  Only one document, about the Immigration Minister's actions, was exempt, as it might be "misinterpreted by the public". The findings are by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) under the Freedom of Information Act … Continue reading FOI Cover Up By Immigration Department

Australian law firms are expecting the Federal government's upcoming move to end Work Choices legislation, in favour of Labor's new industrial relations law, will bring an influx of employment-related work. Unfair dismissal changes have historically prompted a significant number of clients to seek legal advice, according to Baker & McKenzie partner Michael Michalandos. He expects … Continue reading Scrapped Work Choices Legislation and Unfair Dismissal Laws

Climate change may not be as severe as predicted, suggests an international study that shows current modelling of carbon dioxide emissions from soils are overestimated by as much as 20%. The view, reported in the latest Nature Geoscience journal, is based on a study of Australian soils that finds the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) … Continue reading Australian Soil Studies Question Effect Of Climate Change

Perth midwife Tracey Robinson and her husband, Paul, have won a six-year battle against the Immigration Department to stay in Australia with their Down syndrome son. Immigration Minister Chris Evans has foreshadowed reform of the visa process for families with disabled children after using his discretion this week to grant the Robinsons permanent residency. Senator … Continue reading Down Syndrome Family Wins Six Year Visa Battle

The continuing effects of the global financial crisis have resulted in what some have called unprecedented turmoil in financial markets. Some of the volatility in stock markets has been blamed on short selling. Short selling is an activity whereby an entity enters into an agreement to sell a security that it does not currently own. … Continue reading ASIC Position On Short Selling

Just 90 years after winning the right to practice law, woman currently make up 68% of all law graduates, which is a remarkable achievement. However, females account for only 16% of partners, and less than 3% of managing partners and/or CEO's which raises questions of gender equality at the senior management level within Australian law … Continue reading Glass Ceiling For Women Lawyers

Children should be weighed and monitored for obesity from birth to stop them becoming unhealthy, fat adults, according to researchers. The experts argue the Federal Government's Healthy Kids Check plan to weigh all children from the age of four from next year is leaving it too late, given one in five children are already overweight … Continue reading Child Obesity Checks Should Start From Birth, Say Experts

About 24% of UK law firms have admitted to misplacing at least one mobile device containing confidential documents, a recent survey found. IT company CREDANT Technologies interviewed 100 UK small to medium sized law firms and revealed that lawyers were about as "clueless" as other professionals, when it came to respecting client confidentiality. Over 90% … Continue reading One Quarter Of Law Firms Lose Confidential Data